It’s back to sex and drugs and rock’n'roll for the bad seeds as they deliver a straight rock album without any experiments.
The band’s 14th album is ironically their biggest commercial success to date: It went to #2 in Cave’s native Australia and reached #4 in the UK. After years of experimenting with a wide range of styles from 1930s ballads to swamp blues, Cave settles on good old urban rock’n'roll.
Cave famously introduced murder ballads into the pop mainstream in the 1990’s with ‘Where The Wild Roses Grow’ (with Kylie Minogue) and ‘Henry Lee’ (with PJ Harvey). He still writes edgy lyrics, only this time he sticks to more traditional sex and drugs and rock’n'roll imagery.
‘Dig! Lazarus Dig!’ could have been made anytime between 1969 and 2008. Musically, the band takes a fresh look at its roots, from Dylan’s stream of consciousness rants to the buzz saw organ and guitar noise of Lou Reed and John Cale’s Velvet Underground. The Bad Seeds even have a decent stab at re-constructing the Velvet’s ‘Sweet Jane’ on the hypnotic album closer ‘More News From Nowhere’.
‘Dig! Lazarus Dig!’ is arguably the easiest Cave album to listen to in a long time. Cave and the Bad Seeds play seriously tight and show plenty of muscle without having to try too hard. While it adds nothing new to the rock canon, the album will take you on a highly addictive, enjoyable musical ride.
Listen now to Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds’ ‘Dig! Lazarus Dig!’ and download the album from the iTunes Store.
To buy the album on CD, please see the link below.
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